E11 meters down the Trave near Lübeck. Underwater archaeologist Felix Rösch captures the impressions of the sensational find with an underwater camera: mussels, starfish and fish cavort on an approximately 19 meter long old shipwreck.
More than 400 years ago, a civilian merchant ship with a 90-ton load sank here just before entering the port. The wreck was accidentally discovered during a routine survey last year. “There has never been such a well-preserved ship from the late Hanseatic period,” says Felix Rösch from the Department of Prehistory and Early History at the University of Göttingen – and dares a superlative that is rare for scientists: “This is the absolute highlight of my archaeological career.”
On Monday the time had come: a team of divers and archaeologists from the Polish company Archecom and the city of Lübeck, coordinated by Rösch, began to salvage the shipwreck. With the help of a hydraulic crane on board a special ship, two barrels of quicklime, on which mussels and algae have spread – the quicklime was to be used as mortar, first come to light.
“An extremely important find for the Hanseatic city of Lübeck and at the same time an identification with its own history,” says Lübeck’s Mayor Jan Lindenau (SPD), who is on board the salvage ship on Monday. According to the city of Lübeck, the rescue should last until September and cost about two million euros. Before objects such as coins, shoes, cutlery or broken pottery can see the light of day, the team uncovers layer by layer, from top to bottom, down to the bottom.
Since the wreck is in the middle of a fairway, the researchers and divers have to be particularly vigilant: “Even pleasure boats often do not recognize our flag and come very close to us,” says Rösch. Underwater suckers help with the salvage, removing the sediment that has settled on the wreck for centuries. A true-to-scale 3D model is to be created using non-contact measurement methods. Rösch is hoping for personal belongings from the ship’s former crew.
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